Chapter Summaries

After discovering that Sha Guowang had hidden the Spirit Seeking Gold Finding Array in his journals, Shen Lin quickly mastered its principles. When Yun Li delivered a large trove of ancient texts for Shen Lin to translate, Shen Lin made him stay to help record them.

• Shen Lin reflected on Great Wei's sealed ancient texts and began examining the beast-hide journals he had brought back from Sha Guowang.
• Shen Lin pieced together the journals to reveal Sha Guowang's inheritance, the Spirit Seeking Gold Finding Array, and used his lifespan to deduce it.
• Shen Lin demonstrated his grasp of arrays by using a Water Condensing Array to gather the bathwater into a sphere, then returned it to the bath.
• Yun Li arrived with scrolls, bamboo slips, books, and a stone tablet, explaining that Ji Zhanxie had ordered Shen Lin to translate them.
• Shen Lin told Yun Li he had to help record the translations and deliver them to Ji Zhanxie, leaving Yun Li dismayed at being assigned the work.

Prime Minister Zhang and Grand Wei’s leaders discussed Shen Lin’s secrets and the threat of a powerful being, then learned that the Myriad Demon Kingdom had invaded Lingzhou and slaughtered a county’s civilians. Prime Minister Zhang ordered a full-scale campaign to annihilate the kingdom.

• Ji Zhanxie reported that the Demon Suppression Division’s sealed items had been sent to Shen Lin, then warned Prime Minister Zhang that Shen Lin could deal with beings in the Spirit Nurturing Realm.
• Prime Minister Zhang concluded Shen Lin was not a member of the Demon Race and argued that his secrets did not necessarily make him a threat to Grand Wei.
• Yuwen Fengxian reported fighting a Crab Demon from the Myriad Demon Kingdom in the Eastern Sea, and Prime Minister Zhang said Grand Wei’s long-prepared plan might need to be completed within three months.
• A secret letter revealed that the Myriad Demon Kingdom had invaded Lingzhou and slaughtered three hundred thousand civilians in a county.
• Prime Minister Zhang ordered the Demon Slaying Marquis’s squads and provincial Demon Suppression Division offices to mobilize, while Grand Wei’s army prepared to invade the Myriad Demon Kingdom along three routes and annihilate it.

Prime Minister Zhang prepared to wage an all-out war against the Myriad Demon Kingdom and hurried to learn the contents Shen Lin had translated. A stone stele revealed an ancient human plan to fight the Great Serpent and urged future generations not to give up resistance.

• Prime Minister Zhang ordered Great Gan's forces to attack the weakened Myriad Demon Kingdom, assigning Yuwen Fengxian and the other experts separate routes.
• Prime Minister Zhang went to Shen Lin's home, where Yun Li explained that Shen Lin had been summoned by the Li family to examine a huge stone stele.
• Yun Li dictated the stele's account of humans captured by a six-pointed demon creature and trapped on the continent under a bloodline seal and the Great Serpent's threat.
• The stele described how a thousand Dharma Aspect Realm experts planned to break through together and sacrifice their lives to raise one person to the Second Step and fight the Great Serpent.
• The stele urged future generations to find a way to undo the Six-Pointed Star Hidden Path Array and continue resisting.

Prime Minister Zhang learned that successive human dynasties had been destroyed by demons and studied the Great Ming Dynasty’s method for injuring the Candle Dragon. Meanwhile, Shen Lin visited the Li family to claim a promised stone stele, but after accepting their feast, he revealed that he knew Li Lun planned to activate the formation beneath them.

• Yun Li explained that the Great Gan Dynasty and later human dynasties had fallen to the Demon Race, and that the Great Ming Dynasty had once injured the Candle Dragon before the Six-pointed Star Demon Saint destroyed it.
• Prime Minister Zhang recognized the lost writing as the Human Race’s roots and considered adapting the Great Ming Dynasty’s method to Great Wei’s plans.
• Shen Lin visited the Li household, where Li Lun thanked him for saving his grandson and the young man presented him with a Summoning Ring.
• Li Lun delayed discussing the stone stele and invited Shen Lin to a lavish banquet, asking whether he had started a family.
• After eating and drinking his fill, Shen Lin told Li Lun to make his move because he knew Li Lun could activate the formation beneath them.

The Li Family lured Shen Lin into a lakeside array and demanded that he marry into the family, submit to a Soul Imprint, and reveal his secrets. When Shen Lin learned the family had arranged a Myriad Demon Kingdom invasion to draw their enemies away, he tried to leave, but Li Lun attacked and the array closed around him.

• Shen Lin discovered that the lotus flowers around the pavilion formed a powerful array, and Li Lun revealed seven Primal Chaos Realm fighters waiting nearby.
• Li Lun demanded that Shen Lin marry the Li Family’s legitimate daughter, publicly claim he had married in willingly, and submit to a Soul Imprint.
• Li Lun explained that the Li Family planned to rebel against Prime Minister Zhang Qiuji, whom they accused of draining their resources, and called their plot clearing the emperor’s side.
• Shen Lin pointed out that the Li Family’s emperor was his relative by marriage and warned that major supporters of Zhang Qiuji might oppose them, but Li Lun said they had been lured from the capital.
• Li Lun revealed that the Myriad Demon Kingdom had launched an invasion under an agreement with the Li Family, prompting Shen Lin to curse and turn to leave.
• Li Lun attacked Shen Lin, who severed Li Lun’s arm with his golden wings; the seven fighters then activated the array, trapping Shen Lin as spiritual blades swept toward him.

Shen Lin seized control of the Li Family’s Lotus Blade Annihilation Array and turned it against Li Lun and his allies. The Li Family Ancestor, Li Zhiqi, destroyed the formation and trapped Shen Lin inside his chessboard, while ordering the others to deal with their remaining business before Zhang noticed.

• Shen Lin identified the Lotus Blade Annihilation Array’s control node and took command of the formation, making the blades circle him.
• Shen Lin explained the formation’s exposed weakness, then sent its blades against Li Lun and the other Li Family martial artists after rejecting Li Lun’s demand that he surrender his knowledge.
• The blades killed the weakest Primal Chaos Realm martial artist, and Li Lun called on the Li Family Ancestor for help.
• Li Zhiqi appeared on a boat, destroyed the lotus seedpods and halted the blades, then trapped Shen Lin inside his chessboard.
• Li Zhiqi told Li Lun and the others to handle their remaining matters quickly and keep old Zhang from noticing.

Prime Minister Zhang returned to his residence and confronted three hidden ancestors from the Aristocratic Clans, revealing that he had known of their conspiracy for five years. As Song Zhiqiang, Fei Zheng, and Zhu Guanghui moved to attack, Fei Zheng suddenly betrayed his companions and struck Zhu Guanghui.

• Yun Li and Prime Minister Zhang discussed Shen Lin's delay, and Prime Minister Zhang told Yun Li to bring Shen Lin to his estate the next morning.
• Prime Minister Zhang's coachman reported that the bugs had surfaced, and Zhang ordered him to follow his previous instructions.
• Prime Minister Zhang returned to his residence and found Song Zhiqiang, Fei Zheng, and Zhu Guanghui waiting in the garden.
• Prime Minister Zhang told the three ancestors that he had known about their plan for five years and criticized their opposition to his efforts to strengthen Great Wei.
• Song Zhiqiang identified the coachman as Mister Thousand Shadows, commander of the Hidden Dragon Guard, and offered to recruit him.
• As the three ancestors prepared to attack, Fei Zheng stabbed Zhu Guanghui from behind and announced himself as the commander of the Hidden Dragon Guard.

Prime Minister Zhang revealed that Fei Zheng had been working with him to crush the Aristocratic Clans’ rebellion, and ordered the Hidden Dragon Guard to seize the four great families. At the Li Family, Gao Yichen confronted Li Zhiqi as Shen Lin remained trapped on a cracking chessboard.

• Prime Minister Zhang explained that Fei Zheng had joined his plan to resist Candle Dragon’s restrictions and had helped expose the clans’ rebellion.
• Fei Zheng reported killing Song Zhiqiang and another opponent, then urged Prime Minister Zhang to show no mercy to the Fei Family.
• Prime Minister Zhang ordered Mister Thousand Shadows and the Hidden Dragon Guard to capture the four great families, killing anyone who resisted.
• Gao Yichen watched Shen Lin at the Li Family and prepared to intervene, while Li Zhiqi sensed the battle at the Prime Minister’s Residence and found Gao Yichen hiding nearby.
• Gao Yichen confronted Li Zhiqi and asked him to release Shen Lin, but a crack appeared in the chessboard imprisoning the boy.

Li Zhiqi escaped Gao Yichen by teleporting to a hidden valley, where he hoped to seize Shen Lin’s secret and extend his life. Shen Lin broke free of the chessboard, but Li Zhiqi trapped him in the Hundred Soldier Trapping Array and sent its sculptures to attack.

• Li Zhiqi used a teleportation array to escape Gao Yichen, who realized the chessboard had been a distraction and left to contact Daoist Thousand Evolution.
• Li Zhiqi arrived at a hidden valley and resolved to obtain Shen Lin’s secret, believing it could help him reach the Spirit Nurturing Realm and extend his life.
• The chessboard shattered, releasing a Demon Race body that Li Zhiqi mistook for Shen Lin’s true form.
• Li Zhiqi activated the Hundred Soldier Trapping Array, and Shen Lin’s powerful punch only made its barrier tremble.
• Li Zhiqi sent five bronze sculptures to attack Shen Lin, combining their power into a fierce tiger that struck at him.

Shen Lin fought Li Zhiqi’s linked-sculpture array and discovered that its defensive barrier moved too quickly for him to overcome. After the sculptures gathered their power into one soldier, Shen Lin returned to his original form and raised his hand with a slight smile, leaving his next move unclear.

• Shen Lin tried to destroy the sculptures and attack Li Zhiqi, but the array’s barrier shifted between them to block each strike.
• Shen Lin realized the barrier followed the sculptures’ linked Dao Principles, whose energy transfer was too fast for his body to outrun.
• Shen Lin repeatedly charged toward different edges of the array, only to be returned to its center as Li Zhiqi watched and the sculptures closed in.
• The sculptures gathered around one soldier and combined their power, enabling it to strike Shen Lin with late Dharma Aspect Realm strength.
• Shen Lin dismissed his Heavenly Demon Body, returned to his original form, and raised his right hand with a faint smile.

Shen Lin used an array he had secretly carved into the ground to drain Li Zhiqi’s white jade disc, destroy his soldier sculpture, and kill him. As Shen Lin paused to make use of the disc’s remaining power, the Human Race command learned that a violent blast had wiped out the Demon Race forces across the river.

• Shen Lin linked the pits he had carved into the ground and used his array to siphon energy from Li Zhiqi’s white jade disc, creating a barrier that repelled the soldier sculpture.
• Shen Lin drew more power from the disc and destroyed the soldier sculpture with a sword ray, then blasted the fleeing Li Zhiqi out of the sky.
• Shen Lin noticed the disc still held substantial spiritual power and stopped to consider using an array recorded in the Spirit Seeking Gold Finding Array.
• The Imperial Uncle, Ji Nan, and their generals assessed the stalemate against the Myriad Demon Kingdom’s forces in the mountains of western Youzhou.
• A scout reported that a violent explosion had left no demons—or anything else—across the river.

Shen Lin revealed that he had destroyed the Demon Race forces across the river with a vast spiritual-power blast, then gave Imperial Uncle a method for compressing spiritual power into weapons. After the destruction boosted Shen Lin’s Demon Lifespan, he noticed that something was missing from the system’s information.

• Imperial Uncle and Ji Nan found the mountains across the river reduced to a plain and encountered Shen Lin descending through the dust.
• Shen Lin admitted that he had caused the destruction by throwing a little toy at the Demon Race forces.
• Shen Lin gave Imperial Uncle the Spirit Seeking Gold Finding Array method, and Imperial Uncle asked to pass it on to the Great Wei military.
• Imperial Uncle learned that Shen Lin’s blast had used a jade containing over twenty million Spirit Crystals’ worth of spiritual power.
• Shen Lin saw that destroying at least fifty thousand demons had raised his Demon Lifespan past a million, but noticed something missing from the system’s information.

Shen Lin and the Human Race forces faced the surviving Ape Demons and their generals after his explosion devastated the demon army. Shen Lin killed the remaining demon generals, while the Imperial Uncle and Ji Nan engaged the two Ape Demons in battle.

• Two Dharma Aspect Realm Ape Demons and five Primal Chaos Realm demon generals survived Shen Lin’s explosion, and Yuan Gu urged them to make amends through merit by killing Human Race experts.
• Yuan Gu and Yuan Er charged the Imperial Uncle and Ji Nan, while Shen Lin rushed to intercept the demon generals.
• The Imperial Uncle ordered the Human Race troops to form the Unity Formation and attack as he and Ji Nan fought the Ape Demons.
• Shen Lin killed several demon generals with his saber, sword, golden wings, and Thunder Pool technique.
• Shen Lin blinded the remaining Enlightened Sheep Demon and Enlightened Bear Demon with Blazing Sun, then surrounded them with attacks and killed them.

Shen Lin directed the Great Wei army as the Imperial Uncle and Yuan Gu clashed, while Yuan Gu transformed and struck the Imperial Sovereign Dharma Seal. The Aperture Opening Realm warriors took positions across the mountains and began pouring their spiritual power into the ground.

• Shen Lin killed Old Sheep Demon and four other Demon Race commanders before Old Liu and the other Human Race generals arrived.
• The Imperial Uncle merged the Dragon Suppressing Seal into his Imperial Sovereign Dharma Aspect and attacked Yuan Gu, who transformed and swung his staff against the golden seal.
• Shen Lin asked Old Liu to command the soldiers and instructed him to position warriors at the Aperture Opening Realm and above across the mountain peaks.
• Old Liu relayed Shen Lin's orders with a command flag, and the warriors reached their assigned positions within thirty breaths.
• Shen Lin ordered the warriors to pour their spiritual power into the ground, and golden pillars of light appeared across the mountains.

Shen Lin gathered spiritual power from a mountain formation and used the Taowu Saber to kill Yuan Er and Yuan Gu with single strikes. The Imperial Uncle and Ji Nan survived the brothers’ attacks, while Shen Lin’s condition after the immense power remained unknown.

• Shen Lin activated a formation that drew spiritual power from the mountain range and channeled it into him.
• Yuan Gu sent Yuan Er to attack Shen Lin while he used a decoy and his staff to block the Imperial Uncle and Ji Nan.
• Yuan Er struck at Shen Lin, but Shen Lin’s saber aura split Yuan Er and his Dharma Aspect in two.
• Yuan Gu charged Shen Lin in grief, broke his own Dharma Aspect to boost his power, and brought down his Heaven Grade Mysterious Weapon staff.
• Shen Lin’s saber aura broke Yuan Gu’s staff and split Yuan Gu apart, and the system recorded his lifespan absorption.

After Shen Lin’s array killed the Demon Race army on the northern front, Prime Minister Zhang rejected an immediate invasion of the Myriad Demon Kingdom and ordered the forces to head south. He contacted the other commanders to coordinate their next move.

• Shen Lin released the spiritual power gathered through the array, suffered minor internal injuries, and received twenty-four thousand years of Demon Lifespan.
• The Imperial Uncle learned that the northern front’s Demon Race army had been wiped out and contacted Prime Minister Zhang with Shen Lin and Ji Nan.
• Prime Minister Zhang refused the Imperial Uncle’s proposal to invade the Myriad Demon Kingdom because enemy reinforcements could surround them.
• Prime Minister Zhang ordered the northern army to head south and opened a conference with the other commanders.
• The captain of Team A reported that all nine Jingyao Marquis teams had entered the Myriad Demon Kingdom unnoticed and reached Black Horn Deer Demon territory.
• Daoist Qianyan and Yuwen Fengxian appeared on the bronze mirror as Prime Minister Zhang continued gathering the commanders.

Prime Minister Zhang coordinated the human armies after their victories and ordered the Demon Slaying Marquis squads to attack Fire Ant City as a feint while the northern-route army prepared to join Yuwen Fengxian. Shen Lin insisted on joining the mission, and the chapter ended with Yan Zehong warning the Demon Emperor not to assume the northern army would invade the Myriad Demon Kingdom.

• Old Daoist Thousand Evolutions reported that he had fought the fox demon, while Prime Minister Zhang learned that the northern route had won and Yuwen Fengxian had driven back the Myriad Demon Kingdom's forces.
• Prime Minister Zhang proposed sending the northern-route army south to join the central army and defeat the Demon Emperor, and Yuwen Fengxian agreed the plan was feasible.
• Shen Lin suggested a feint against the Myriad Demon Kingdom, so Prime Minister Zhang ordered the Demon Slaying Marquis squads to attack Fire Ant City.
• Shen Lin demanded to join the squads, and Prime Minister Zhang reluctantly agreed that he could rendezvous with them at Fire Ant City.
• Demon Emperor Mo Yuan concluded that the northern-route army had likely been wiped out and ordered forces to gather at Fire Ant City, but Yan Zehong warned that the humans might not invade the kingdom.

Yan Zehong warned Demon Emperor Mo Yuan that Great Wei’s northern army would head south to target him, not plunder the kingdom. As Yuwen Fengxian’s forces launched an unexpected attack, Yan Zehong declared that Fire Ant City held the key to breaking the crisis.

• Yan Zehong explained that Great Wei’s Prime Minister Zhang Qiuji would avoid a deep northern advance and direct the northern army south.
• Yan Zehong argued that Great Wei aimed to kill Mo Yuan and collapse the Myriad Demon Kingdom, rather than seize resources.
• Yan Zehong predicted that Great Wei’s central army would attack while another force moved against Fire Ant City.
• Yuwen Fengxian’s drums and challenge announced a fresh assault, startling the Demon generals.
• Yan Zehong told Mo Yuan that the breakthrough lay in Fire Ant City.

Shen Lin reached Fire Ant City and devised a plan to turn its protective formation into a furnace, which required him to enter the city. Disguised as a powerful demon, he passed the guards and entered while the Fire Ant Tribe's experts arranged to monitor him.

• Shen Lin flew to the forest outside Fire Ant City, replenished his spiritual power with Spirit Crystals, and decided to tamper with the city's protective formation.
• Shen Lin disguised himself as a powerful demon and intimidated a city guard who asked to see his identity token.
• Two Star Realm Fire Ant Tribe experts confronted Shen Lin, but he convinced them he was an uncultured demon from an isolated mountain tribe.
• The two experts let Shen Lin enter Fire Ant City and decided to report his arrival and have someone keep watch over him.

The Fire Ant Tribe learned that Great Wei’s army was advancing on Fire Ant City after destroying the eastern demon forces, so Liao Banshan ordered the city’s teleportation formation activated to receive reinforcements. Meanwhile, Liao Wu watched Shen Lin, a powerful-looking newcomer whose reaction to a human-roasting stall made him suspicious.

• Liao Banshan told the Fire Ant Tribe elders to monitor Shen Lin and ordered Liao Wu to watch the newcomer, who appeared to be a Star Realm demon.
• Liao Banshan revealed that Great Wei’s army was approaching after more than ten thousand demon troops on the eastern battlefield were likely wiped out.
• Liao Banshan said the Demon Emperor had ordered Fire Ant City to activate its teleportation formation and receive ten Primal Chaos Realm reinforcements, despite the enormous cost.
• Liao Wu objected to spending the clan’s resources, but Liao Banshan insisted the city could not refuse the Demon Emperor’s order and had to gamble that Great Wei’s Dharma Aspect Realm expert was weakened.
• Liao Wu found Shen Lin eating and spending Spirit Crystals freely as he wandered through the city.
• Liao Wu grew suspicious when Shen Lin passed a stall that roasted humans and livestock without buying anything, and sent a subordinate to ask what Shen Lin had said.